Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six

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Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six
Genre(s) Tactical shooter
First-person shooter
Developer(s) Red Storm Entertainment
Ubisoft Montreal
Ubisoft Shanghai
Ubisoft Quebec
Publisher(s) Ubisoft
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows, Nintendo 64, PlayStation, Classic Mac OS, Game Boy Color, Dreamcast, Game Boy Advance, Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube, macOS, Mobile phone, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, iOS, Xperia Play, Android, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Amazon Luna, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
First release Rainbow Six
August 21, 1998
Latest release Rainbow Six Mobile
March 2024 [1]

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (often shortened to Rainbow Six or R6) is a tactical shooter video game series by Red Storm Entertainment and Ubisoft, marketed under the Tom Clancy's banner of military-themed video games. Based on the novel Rainbow Six by American author Tom Clancy, it revolves around a fictional international counterterrorist organization called "Rainbow". Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six started in 1998 and as of 2024 consists of 13 entries with 6 expansion pack from early installments.

Contents

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six is one of the most popular and most influential tactical shooter series, and early installments in the series helped propel the tactical shooter genre into the mainstream. Since the mid-2010s, a significant esports scene has formed around newer Rainbow Six games.

The original game in the series is Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (1998) .

Setting

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six follows a secret international counterterrorist organization called "Rainbow" (or "Team Rainbow"; capitalization varies between "Rainbow" and "RAINBOW"). The series is set in the canon Tom Clancy's universe, which is mostly shared with Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon .

Formed in 1999 by the world's military, law enforcement, and intelligence agencies to combat the post-Cold War global rise in terrorism, Rainbow is a rapid reaction force consisting of "operators" from nations and organizations worldwide, ranging from special forces soldiers and police tactical unit members to intelligence officers and field experts, trained and equipped to be the most capable counterterrorist professionals in the world, able to handle any terrorist attack, hostage rescue, or takedown that local authorities cannot conduct in an effective, reliable, or timely manner. Rainbow is headquartered in Hereford, England, but has global jurisdiction and can base themselves at any intelligence agency's headquarters (such as Langley, Virginia) should their continued presence in a region be necessary.

Due to the sensitive nature of their operations, such as being deployed in multinational incidents or against threats possessing weapons of mass destruction, and to simply prevent terrorists from knowing of their existence, Rainbow operates in complete secrecy, with only the most senior government, military, and intelligence officials knowing they even exist. Cover-ups are often conducted after Rainbow's deployments to disguise operators as local police or military units, omit details that could alarm the public, or prevent the reporting of certain deployments.

The leader of Rainbow is designated "Rainbow Six" (or just "Six"), a reference to the American rank code for captain (O-6). [2] The first Six was former U.S. Navy SEAL and CIA operations officer John Clark, who led the organization from its founding until his retirement. [a] Since then, numerous individuals have taken the role of Six, the most recent being Harry Pandey. [b]

Though the Rainbow Six universe is generally grounded in reality and maintains its basic premise, recent installments and plot events partially depart from the series' established setting or Rainbow's traditional policies, with Rainbow hosting a publicly-visible tactical competition, [b] recruiting non-government or independent operators such as private military company "Nighthaven", [b] and being deployed to defeat invading extraterrestrials. [c]

Video games

The first game was developed by Red Storm Entertainment, while the novel was being written. [3] Red Storm was acquired in 2000 by Ubisoft, which has continued to manage the series ever since. [4]

List of games

Overview of released games
Title PC versions Console
versions		 Handheld console and mobile Comments
Rainbow Six Windows (1998); Mac OS (1999) N64, PS1 (1999); DC (2000) GBC (2000)
Rainbow Six: Eagle Watch Windows (1999) DC, PS1 (1999)—expansion pack
Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear Windows (1999); macOS (2001) DC (2000); PS1 (2001) GBA (2002)
Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear – Urban Operations Windows (2000) DC (2000)—expansion pack
Rainbow Six: Covert Ops Essentials Windows (2000)——expansion pack (stand-alone)
Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear – Black Thorn Windows (2001)——expansion pack (stand-alone)
Rainbow Six: Take-Down – Missions in Korea Windows (2001)——Not released outside of South Korea (stand-alone)
Rainbow Six: Lone Wolf— PS1 (2002)—
Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield Windows, macOS (2003) Xbox (2003); PS2, GameCube (2004) Mobile phone (2004)
Rainbow Six 3: Athena Sword Windows, macOS (2004)——expansion pack
Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow — Xbox (2004)—
Rainbow Six 3: Iron Wrath Windows (2005)——expansion pack (DLC)
Rainbow Six: Broken Wings—— Mobile phone (2003)
Rainbow Six: Urban Crisis—— Mobile phone (2003)
Rainbow Six: Lockdown Windows (2006) PS2, Xbox, GameCube (2005) Mobile phone (2005)
Rainbow Six: Critical Hour — Xbox (2006)—
Rainbow Six: Vegas Windows (2006) Xbox 360 (2006); PS3 (2007) Mobile phone (2006); PSP (2007)
Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 Windows (2008) PS3, Xbox 360 (2008)—
Rainbow Six: Shadow Vanguard —— iOS, Xperia Play (2011); Android (2012)Based on the original
Rainbow Six Siege [5] Windows (2015) PS4, Xbox One (2015); PS5, Xbox Series X/S (2020); Luna (2022)—Online-only reboot
Rainbow Six Extraction [6] Windows (2022) PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Luna —
Rainbow Six: Smol—— iOS, Android (2024) [7] Requires a Netflix account
Rainbow Six Mobile [8] —— iOS, Android (2025) [9] Based on Rainbow Six Siege

Notes

  1. ↑ As depicted in Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Critical Hour .
  2. 1 2 3 As depicted in Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege and its later updates.
  3. ↑ As depicted in Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction , which is considered non-canon.

Related Research Articles

<i>Tom Clancys Rainbow Six</i> (video game) 1998 video game

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six is a 1998 tactical shooter video game developed and published by Red Storm Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, with later ports for the Nintendo 64, PlayStation, Mac OS, Game Boy Color, and Dreamcast. It is the first installment in the Rainbow Six series. Based on the Tom Clancy novel of the same name, the game follows Rainbow, a top secret international counterterrorist organization, and the conspiracy they unravel as they handle a seemingly random spike in terrorism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tactical shooter</span> Video game genre

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<i>Rainbow Six</i> (novel) 1998 novel by Tom Clancy

Rainbow Six is a techno-thriller novel written by Tom Clancy and released on August 3, 1998. It is the second book to primarily focus on John Clark, one of the recurring characters in the Ryanverse, after Without Remorse (1993); it also features his son-in-law, Domingo "Ding" Chavez. Rainbow Six follows "Rainbow", a secret international counterterrorist organization headed by Clark, and the complex apocalyptic conspiracy they unravel after handling multiple seemingly random terrorist attacks.

<i>Tom Clancys Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield</i> 2003 video game

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield is a 2003 tactical first-person shooter video game developed by Red Storm Entertainment and published by Ubi Soft for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It is the third entry in the Rainbow Six series. The game's plot follows Rainbow, a secret international counterterrorist organization, as they respond to a wave of terrorist attacks threatening South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red Storm Entertainment</span> American video game developer

Red Storm Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and studio of Ubisoft based in Cary, North Carolina. Founded in November 1996 between author Tom Clancy, manager Doug Littlejohns, and software development company Virtus Corporation, Red Storm develops games in the Tom Clancy's franchise. Ubisoft acquired the studio in August 2000.

<i>Tom Clancys Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear</i> 1999 video game

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear is a 1999 tactical first-person shooter video game developed and published by Red Storm Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, with later ports for the Dreamcast, Mac OS, PlayStation, and Game Boy Advance. The sequel to 1998's Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six, it is the second installment in the Rainbow Six series and the last to be published by Red Storm before its acquisition by Ubi Soft in 2000. The game's plot follows the secret international counterterrorist organization Rainbow as they investigate nuclear terrorism in Eastern Europe.

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon is a series of military tactical shooter video games published by Ubisoft. In the series, the player is in charge of a fictional, newly conceived squad of U.S. Army Special Forces soldiers from Delta Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group stationed at Fort Bragg. Except for the "1st Battalion, 5th SFG" designation, this reconnaissance unit is entirely fictional, as Special Forces Battalions currently only support three Companies. They are often referred to as "the Ghosts". Their role is like other real world special operations forces, in that their operations are kept highly classified. In Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, it is shown that the Ghost's unit has multiple designations and is part of JSOC; they are also known as the Group for Specialized Tactics, much like real JSOC units such as Delta Force and SEAL Team Six. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon has also been novelized by Grant Blackwood under the pseudonym David Michaels.

<i>Tom Clancys Rainbow Six: Lockdown</i> 2005 video game

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Lockdown is a 2005 tactical first-person shooter video game published by Ubisoft for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, and Windows. It is the fourth game in the Rainbow Six series. The game's plot follows Rainbow, an international counterterrorist organization, as they battle a terrorist organization that has stolen a deadly bioweapon.

<i>Tom Clancys Rainbow Six: Critical Hour</i> 2006 video game

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Critical Hour is a 2006 tactical first-person shooter video game developed by Ubisoft Quebec and published by Ubisoft exclusively for the Xbox. It is the fifth game in the Rainbow Six series. The game's plot, set during John Clark's retirement as leader of international counterterrorist organization Rainbow, recaps several past missions Clark handled during his time commanding Rainbow.

<i>Tom Clancys Rainbow Six: Vegas</i> 2006 video game

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas is the sixth game in the Rainbow Six series of video games. It was released in November 2006 for the Xbox 360, December 2006 for Windows, and in June 2007 for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable. The game's storyline follows a new team that is dispatched to Las Vegas, Nevada to defeat international terrorist Irena Morales and her army of mercenaries that are repeatedly attacking key locations in the city. A sequel developed by Ubisoft Montreal was released on Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 consoles in March 2008 and on PC in April 2008. The game is also playable on Xbox Series X with online features still available.

<i>Tom Clancys Rainbow Six: Take-Down – Missions in Korea</i> 2001 video game

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Take-Down – Missions in Korea is a 2001 tactical first-person shooter video game developed and published by Kama Digital Entertainment in cooperation with Red Storm Entertainment and Ubi Soft. A non-canon spinoff of the Rainbow Six franchise, Take-Down was only released in South Korea for Microsoft Windows. The game's plot follows the international counterterrorist organization Rainbow as they handle terrorism and organized crime in South Korea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ubisoft Montreal</span> Canadian video game developer

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<i>Tom Clancys Rainbow 6: Patriots</i> Video game

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<i>Tom Clancys Rainbow Six Siege</i> 2015 video game

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege is a 2015 online tactical shooter video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. The game puts heavy emphasis on environmental destruction and cooperation between players. Each player assumes control of an attacker or a defender in different gameplay modes such as rescuing a hostage, defusing a bomb, and taking control of an objective within a room. The title has no campaign but features a series of short, offline missions called, "situations" that can be played solo. These missions have a loose narrative, focusing on recruits going through training to prepare them for future encounters with the "White Masks", a terrorist group that threatens the safety of the world.

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<i>Tom Clancys Ghost Recon Wildlands</i> 2017 video game set in Bolivia

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<i>Tom Clancys Rainbow Six Extraction</i> 2022 video game

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction is an online multiplayer tactical shooter video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. A spin-off of Rainbow Six Siege (2015), Extraction is a cooperative multiplayer game in which players must work together to combat and defeat a type of parasite-like aliens called the Archæans. The game was released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Google Stadia, Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on January 20, 2022. It received mixed reviews from critics.

<i>Tom Clancys The Division Heartland</i> Cancelled video game

Tom Clancy's The Division Heartland is a cancelled free-to-play third person shooter action game developed by Red Storm Entertainment and published by Ubisoft. It was set to be a standalone spin-off set in The Division universe. Heartland was set to be released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Amazon Luna.

<i>Tom Clancys Rainbow Six Mobile</i> Upcoming 2025 video game

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Mobile is an upcoming tactical shooter video game developed and published by Ubisoft.

References

  1. ↑ "Ubisoft has added Rainbow Six and The Division mobile games to its 2023-24 line-up". VGC. 16 February 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  2. ↑ Tucker, Jake (4 December 2015). "The agony and ecstasy behind the first Rainbow Six". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
  3. ↑ Upton, Brian (21 January 2000). "Postmortem: Redstorm's Rainbow Six". Gamasutra . Archived from the original on 4 August 2001. Retrieved 6 August 2007.
  4. ↑ "Life at Red Storm". Red Storm Entertainment. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  5. ↑ "Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege | Ubisoft (US)". www.ubisoft.com. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  6. ↑ "Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction | Ubisoft (US)". www.ubisoft.com. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  7. ↑ Kaser, Rachel (20 February 2024). "Ubisoft launches Rainbow Six Smol, a roguelite exclusive to Netflix". VentureBeat . Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  8. ↑ "Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Mobile | Ubisoft (US)". www.ubisoft.com. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  9. ↑ Holt, Kris (18 July 2024). "Ubisoft delays its Rainbow Six and Division mobile games until at least April 2025". Engadget. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
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